Moving frames and singularities of prolonged group actions (Q1573773)

Given a finite-dimensional Lie group \(G\) acting on a manifold \(M\), there are induced actions on the associated jet manifolds known as the prolonged group action. The range of applicability of the Cartan method of moving frames is related to the geometry of the prolonged group action to jet spaces. Concretely, a moving frame exists on a neigbourhood of a point \(z\in M\) if and only if \(G\) acts freely and regularly near \(z\). There are several methods for converting a non-free, but effective action into a free action; one of them is to prolong the group action to the jet spaces \(J_p^nM\) of dimension \(p\) and order \(n\) of \(M\): Ovsiannikov's stabilization theorem [\textit{L. V. Ovsiannikov}, Group analysis of differential equations (1982; Zbl 0485.58002); \textit{P. J. Olver}, Equivalence, invariants, and symmetry (1995; Zbl 0837.58001)] asserts that, if a Lie group acts locally effectively, the prolonged group action is locally free on an open subset of \(J_p^nM\) for \(n\) large enough, and hence a locally equivariant moving frame can be constructed. However, traditional statements of this result are not quite correct, according to the author, so this paper is devoted to a detailed study of the geometry of the prolonged group action, with particular emphasis on the orbit structure. A correct formulation of the stabilization theorem requires a slight refinement of the notion of effectiveness: the notion of a locally effective action on subsets. An important point in order to understand the stabilization theorem is the existence of totally singular points; the author shows that an analytic transformation group cannot have totally singular points, although this is not true in the smooth case. Finally, an explicit characterization of totally singular submanifolds is given, both in the analytic and smooth cases, and the action of a transitive group on an homogeneous space is treated in detail.